Famous bakeries in Ho Chi Minh City are bustling

According to Thanh Nien , although it is only the beginning of August, many moon cake shops , especially those along major roads in Ho Chi Minh City, have started selling cakes.

Most of these stores import cakes from famous bakeries and then resell them. What is the current situation of moon cake production and sales at bakeries in Ho Chi Minh City?

The owner of the bakery Nhu Lan decided not to increase the price.

Since the beginning of August, the famous Nhu Lan mooncake shop in Ho Chi Minh City owned by Aunt Gai (real name Nguyen Thi Dau, 79 years old) has started displaying many types of traditional mooncakes on the shelves, full of them.

At this time, Aunt Gai's bakery is bustling to welcome customers to buy and order cakes for the 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival.

This year, the cakes at the shop are still diverse with dozens of different fillings for customers to choose from, from expensive to affordable: moon cakes with green bean, coconut, durian, green tea, lotus, shark fin, bird's nest, roasted chicken, mixed... and even moon cakes for vegetarians.

The cakes cost from 50,000 to 750,000 VND depending on the filling and size. In addition, this bakery also serves many gift packages priced from 240,000 to 1,070,000 VND to serve the diverse needs of customers, from popular to high-end.

Although there are still 2 months left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, Aunt Gai said that the shop has started producing cakes, ready to serve the peak of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival. Although the Mid-Autumn Festival atmosphere at this bakery is starting to get bustling as businesses, overseas Vietnamese, and diners start ordering cakes, the owner confided that this year, customer demand has decreased sharply.

Aunt Gai said that this year's cake business is not as favorable as last year.

“Last year, at this time, many businesses and companies ordered cakes in large quantities. This year, orders have decreased by 30-40%. However, at my bakery, whenever there is an order from a customer, we do our best and wholeheartedly.

My shop will keep the price unchanged this year, instead of waiting for the Mid-Autumn Festival to raise the price. We have kept this price for 3 years, so that workers can also buy cakes at a good price, otherwise if the economy is difficult, who would dare to increase it again? ", the owner said.

Orders are more gloomy, the number of sellers at Aunt Gai's bakeries has also been cut in half. According to the owner, almost every year customers prefer traditional cakes at Nhu Lan over new ones, so she still increases production and supply of these cakes.

Normally, moon cake bakeries are closed. On this occasion, they are open and decorated beautifully.

In the afternoon, Mr. Ly Hung (34 years old, living in District 8) stopped by Aunt Gai's shop to look at this year's mooncake menu. He said he planned to order cakes as gifts for his company's partners, who have trusted this bakery for the past 4 years.

“When it comes to Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone thinks of Nhu Lan cakes first. I bought a large quantity so I ordered in advance for peace of mind, the price is the same as last year. The cakes here are beautifully packaged, there are many gift sets to choose from. This year, it seems like the Mid-Autumn Festival has come early, I see people selling them on the street,” he said.

The famous bakery in Cho Lon is also bustling.

For over a week now, Phuong Diem Thuan mooncake shop owned by Mr. Phuong Trien Phong’s family (44 years old), a famous person in Cho Lon, has been open for business. The shop’s eye-catching decorations have attracted the attention of many people passing by on Pham Phu Thu Street (District 6).

The owner said that the shop only opens during the Mid-Autumn Festival to make and sell cakes to customers. On normal days, everyone in the shop does different jobs.

According to Mr. Phong, the business situation at the beginning of the Mid-Autumn Festival was not as good as last year, and the number of cakes prepared for production was also a bit more modest. Because the price of input materials had increased somewhat, his shop increased the price of moon cakes by 5-7% compared to previous years.

Mr. Phong is busy with work this Mid-Autumn Festival.

Similar to Nhu Lan, the cakes here also have a variety of fillings, from high-end to popular with prices ranging from a few tens to a few hundred thousand. In particular, the shop sells many gift sets with different prices suitable for customers to give as gifts, the highest is a set priced at over 800,000 VND.

"The traditional cakes are still produced in large quantities. However, in recent years, new types of cakes, such as the pineapple mooncakes at our shop, have been selling well and are more popular with customers," the owner said.

Not everyone knows that this moon cake shop was originally a Western cake shop (cookies, cakes, etc.) founded by Mr. Phong's father, Mr. Phuong Diem Thuan, before 1975. Since 1987, the shop has started making moon cakes with the flavor of the Chaozhou people. His family learned the moon cake making profession from a famous bakery in the past in Cho Lon, but it no longer exists.

Many types of cakes and gift sets for customers to choose from.

“Cantonese mooncakes usually have only two main fillings: mixed fillings and lotus seed fillings. Meanwhile, Teochew mooncakes are rich with all kinds of fillings and are less sweet,” Phong shared.

The bakery is located right in the family bakery. The owner said that the bakery does not distribute cakes to any agents but mainly accepts orders from wholesale and retail customers.

Learning more, I learned that Mr. Thuan has 10 children, 3 of whom live abroad, so the bakery is currently inherited by his 7 children, managed by his youngest son, Mr. Phong. Currently, Mr. Phong's father is still in good health, and every Mid-Autumn Festival he often goes to the bakery to watch his children inherit the "fortune" that he has worked so hard to build.

Meanwhile, Dong Hung Vien mooncake factory located on Bai Say Street (District 6) also opened in early August. Although it has not been decorated much, the factory said that it opened at this time to create a Mid-Autumn atmosphere, and also to inform many customers that the factory has started accepting orders for this year's family reunion festival.

Dong Hung Vien was a familiar brand to Saigonese long before 1975, along with other brands that no longer exist such as Vinh Hung Tuong, Tan Tan, Long Xuong, Dai Chung, etc. However, after 1975, the owner of Dong Hung Vien went to America. The two main bakers of this shop, one, Mr. Boc My Nguyen, went abroad to live, and the other lived in Saigon (deceased).

The current main baker of Dong Hung Vien in Saigon (operating since 1975) is Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, who learned the trade from Mr. Boc My Nguyen, and Dong Hung Vien shop in Saigon is no longer related to the owner of the Dong Hung Vien brand in the US.

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